Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom at Six Flags Magic Mountain is the scariest ride in
all of California. This is a massive, and I mean massive, drop tower. The ride stands a
whopping 40 stories tall. Not only that, but it’s built on the side of Superman.
So the ride will quite literally sway back and forth whenever that ride runs.
But is it one of the best drop towers? Find out in this review of Lex Luthor.
Superman the Escape opened back in 1997 as the world’s tallest roller coaster. This shuttle
coaster would launch riders up a 415 foot or 127 meter tall tower. In 2011, Magic Mountain
rebranded Superman the Escape as Superman Escape from Krypton. The coaster was painted red, blue,
and yellow and the vehicle was turned backwards. This was a reverse freefall coaster from Intamin.
The only other one ever built was Tower of Terror at Dreamworld in Australia, which also opened in
1997. What was interesting with this one is that a second ride was built onto the ride’s
tower in 1998. This would be Giant Drop. This was a 390 foot or 119 meter tall drop tower,
also from Intamin. It would be nearly 100 feet taller than the prior record holder
in Knott’s Berry Farm’s Supreme Scream. For the next decade plus, Magic Mountain
fans clamored for the park to add a similar drop tower on the side of Superman. There
was some speculation whether this could be done with California’s earthquake codes,
but sure enough in 2011, Six Flags Magic Mountain announced Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom.
This would be an Intamin drop tower standing exactly 400 feet or 120 meters tall. When this
ride opened in 2012, it ended Giant Drop’s 14 year reign as the world’s tallest drop tower.
Lex Luthor would hold this record for 2 years until Six Flags Great Adventure built a very
similar ride onto Kingda Ka in Zumanjaro. This would also be an Intamin drop tower
placed onto an Intamin roller coaster, and it would be just 15 feet or 6 meters taller
than Lex Luthor. But I’d argue the latter is far scarier. This is for two reasons.
One, the view. Magic Mountain is fittingly surrounded by a series of mountains and hills.
You can see for miles in each direction. It is one of the best views on any attraction. And it’s
easy to tell just how high you are since you’re lifted above the park’s colossal coaster lineup.
This is why I was flabbergasted when the park put virtual reality goggles on the attraction in 2018.
Why you’d want to take this iconic view away from riders beats me. It is a major
part of the experience for me. I’m glad it didn’t last long.
The other reason this attraction is scary is Superman. Whenever that coaster rockets
up the tower, you will feel the entire tower very noticeably sway side-to-side.
This motion intensifies the higher you are. While you won’t see the sway with the naked
eye at ground level, you will absolutely feel it on-ride. And when you’re that high off the ground,
it’s downright terrifying. Few moments on any ride are scarier. I feel a pit in my stomach
whenever I hear Superman take off since I know what’s coming, but I love the thrill.
While Zumanjaro is built on the same tower as Kingda Ka, that one doesn’t have the
same degree of sway. For many years that was because New Jersey didn’t allow the two rides
to operate simultaneously. But now that they can run together, the tower is a lot stiffer.
But back to Lex Luthor, the entrance is at the base of the tower quite a ways from Superman’s
entrance. The queue line is a series of switchbacks inside Lexcorp. You have a
fantastic looking Power Suit in the center of the room plus some pictures on the wall.
But I haven’t had to spend much time in here. This ride almost always has a short wait and I
think a lot of that ties back to just how intimidating this ride is. Simply put,
a lot of guests are too scared to even try it.
If the ride has a long wait, there is a single rider line. I don’t even think it’s marked,
so you have to know it’s there to use it. For this reason, it has always been a walk-on.
To access it, you walk up to the ride’s exit and let the operator know you’re a single
rider. And usually, you’ll be admitted onto the ride in just a cycle or two.
Lex Luthor features two carriages, one on each side of Superman. Each gondola hold just 8 riders,
so the ride can accommodate a max of 16 riders per cycle. That’s quite a low figure
for a park the size of Magic Mountain, but that’s fine for the demand this ride sees.
Riders are restrained by an overhead lap bar. The profiling on the part across your lap is
very similar to Intamin’s newer coasters, but you do have over-the-shoulder grab
bars way off to the side. It’s a far more open restraint than most drop towers, which further
amplifies the fear factor with this attraction. Once dispatched, you begin the climb up the tower.
This process takes nearly a minute. Riders are winched to the top. The vehicles move rather
slowly until you clear the magnetic brakes at the bottom. Then you start to rise at a faster clip.
Halfway up the tower, the gondola starts to slow down. It fakes riders out, tricking them they’re
already at the top. But you still have a long way to go. After a few seconds, you speed back
up and continue rise all the way to the top. As you near the top, you’ll hear some imposing
music and Lex Luthor begin to taunt riders. This further builds anticipation for the imminent drop.
One thing I like about this audio is that it doesn’t tip off the moment you drop. A lot of
drop towers fall into that trap, but there’s an appreciable delay in between the audio finishing
and the moment the drop begins. While you aren’t held at the top as long as some drop towers,
you have more than enough time to take in the view since you can see so much on that long ascent.
Once the drop kicks in, you get a little stomach drop sensation. But that is fleeting. You also
will levitate out of your seat for part of the descent. Typically I feel the airtime for the
first half of the fall. For whatever reason, this drop has a bit more oomph than Zumanjaro,
but it doesn’t have the same force as some of the older Intamin drop towers.
duration and you just keep accumulating speed. You end up hitting a max speed of 85 mph or 137 kph,
which is faster than all but a dozen or so coasters. You start to question
whether you’ll stop in time since it feels unnatural to drop for that long.
And you may even get the jackpot and have the tower swaying from Superman while you’re released.
Few rides have had me grip the handle bars harder.
So what would I rate Lex Luthor? I would give this drop tower a 9 out of 10. This is one heck
of a thrill. You not only have that insane height, but the unique quirks such as the swaying tower
and audio enhance the experience. Then you have a breathtaking view combined with a great drop.
As I noted earlier, this ride won’t get a perfect score because it doesn’t have the same
gut-punch as some other drop towers. But it’s still a very good drop between the length and
speed, which is why it comfortably made it onto my top 25 drop tower list from a few years ago.
So those are my thoughts on Lex Luthor Drop of Doom at Six Flags Magic Mountain. What are your
thoughts on this drop tower? Do you agree it’s the scariest ride in California? Let
me know down in the comments. If you enjoyed this review, I’d appreciate it if you gave
this video a like and you considered subscribing since there will be a lot
more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!